


muscle memory

by mushroombiome



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Massage, Pillow Talk, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, alec is tense and needs a massage, magnus is too sensitive and ticklish for one, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-15
Updated: 2019-05-15
Packaged: 2020-03-05 15:38:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18831601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mushroombiome/pseuds/mushroombiome
Summary: "What the hell?” Magnus replies, an amused smile coming from his lips, heart soaring at the sight of Alec finally relaxing for once. “You're never this loud when we have sex.”“That’s a lie and you know it.”Magnus shows Alec the benefits of a good massage.





	muscle memory

**Author's Note:**

> based on interactions between me and my gf :') 
> 
> i havent written fanfic in a while and i'm super excited about this!

It’s a quiet Friday night, and the pitter-patter of rain could be heard from the windows leading outside. Magnus lays in bed next to his boyfriend, the bed heavier with more blankets and pillows to keep them warm from the sudden drop in temperature. He’s idly scrolling through his phone, texting Cat about a potion he’s been working on for a client, when he hears a muffled sound from next to him. He glances down at Alec, laying down on his stomach, his near naked body covered by the piles of blankets on top of him.

“Babe?” Alec repeats, moving his head so that his voice isn’t being covered by the pillow. His eyes are closed and his voice sounding as if he’s been drifting to sleep.

“Yes?” Magnus replies, placing the phone on his stomach to pay full attention to the absolute angel laying next to him.

“Didn’t you say you were a masseuse for like a couple of years?” His voice almost sounds slurred, a testament to how tired he feels. Magnus reaches out to run his fingers through Alec’s hair, fingers lightly digging into the scalp in the spot he knows his boyfriend likes. Alec, in return, makes a content sigh—a borderline purr—and leans into the touch. The sight makes Magnus’s heart soar; in his hundreds and hundreds of years of living, he’s never felt more lucky than he is now.

“I was,” Magnus confirms. “I got kinda bored and decided to spend a whole year traveling around the world and just… exploring, I guess. And one of my exes was this really well known masseuse. So, I learned quite a bit from them.”

Alec’s eyes open halfway peeking at Magnus. “Of course you would take a year long break because you were bored.” He turns his body to his side, throwing his arm over the other’s waist as he looks at his boyfriend with questioning eyes. “Can you give me a back massage? It’s been so physically demanding back at the Institute and I think my body is finally giving way.”

“I may be centuries older than you but I keep thinking you’re more of the old man here.”

“Shut up,” Alec snorts, reaching over to jab his fingers into Magnus’s more ticklish spots.

“Oh my god, stop!” he yelps, swatting at Alec’s hands and play fighting him for a moment. They still for a moment and Magnus sits up from the bed. “You know the answer is always yes. You know how good I am with my hands.” He punctuates the last sentence with an eyebrow waggle.

Alec laughs, removing the blankets and laying down on his stomach, exposing his rune-scattered back to Magnus. “I’m warning you, this isn’t gonna be a sexy massage. I’m too tense and tired to move now.”

“Wasn’t expecting it to be,” he replies, throwing his legs over Alec and straddling his waist. “We can save that for another time.”

Alec hums in agreement, sighing as he feels Magnus’s hands graze over his back. And he lets out a shameless moan when he suddenly feels pressure over his upper back, fingers kneading against tense muscle. “Wait, can you go a little higher? Yeah, right there. By the _Angel_ , that feels so nice.” His voice is breathless and his brain is already short-circuiting, focusing on nothing but his boyfriend’s fingers.

“Geez, you are really tense.” Every spot that Magnus goes over, he feels tense muscles needing to be relaxed. “When was the last time you got a massage?”

“Never got one before— Wait, can you massage my neck?”

“You never got one before?” Magnus sounds surprised as his hands reach over to each side of Alec’s neck, fingers digging into the juncture between his neck and shoulders. Once he locates the tense muscle (it didn’t take long to, either), he begins kneading the muscle. Alec lets out a small whine, burying his face into the pillow as he tries to curl into the touch.

“Just never got a chance to,” he mumbles, his voice almost slurring as a low satisfied hum emits from his chest almost like a purr. “That feels so nice.” More pressure, and Alec is just making more louder, helpless one-note noises.

"What the hell?” Magnus replies, an amused smile coming from his lips, heart soaring at the sight of Alec finally relaxing for once. “You're never this loud when we have sex.”

“That’s a lie and you know it.”

Magnus chuckles, continuing to massage Alec’s neck and soaking in all the satisfied noises from his mouth. After a few more minutes, Alec then reaches his hand back, touching his wrist and signaling to him that he’s done.

“I think I’m good, now,” he says, his voice soft and light, a complete opposite to Alec Lightwood: Head of the Institute. Magnus returns to his side of the bed, happily opening his arms and letting Alec cuddle into him. “Thanks you.”

“Always.” Magnus waves his fingers, turning off the lights with his magic before throwing the blankets over them. He kisses Alec’s forehead, burying his face in his dark curls before drifting asleep.

* * *

Soon after that, the massages continue. Magnus insists that he massages Alec’s back and neck every night, making sure to find every tense muscle so his boyfriend doesn’t have to feel so stiff all the time. Alec, being someone who still has issues with asking for help, initially resisted, mostly because he doesn’t want Magnus to do more work with nothing in return.

_(“Please,” Magnus says, one night over dinner when he brings it up. “Just seeing you happy and relaxed is enough payment for me.”_

_And, of course, Alec couldn't help but kiss him after that.)_

Right now, Alec is at the Institute, sparring with Jace, his body feeling more lighter than they have in literal years.

“You seem to be in a good mood lately,” Jace comments.

“I do?” Alec says, frowning as he ducks underneath his brother to dodge his hits.

“Yeah. People are actually noticing it, too. You haven’t been as pissy and intimidating as you were a couple of weeks ago. You almost have, like, a bounce in your step. Is Magnus giving it to you good?”

Alec yelps, so distracted and thrown off by Jace’s question that he stumbles, allowing the other to pin him against the ground.

“No!” he splutters, pulling himself out of the grip. Alec then walks to the benches, wiping his sweaty head with his towel. “Well yes— I mean, _fuck…”_ He sighs, collecting himself for a moment. “He’s been giving me massages.”

Jace raises an eyebrow. “Is that what the kids call it these days?”

Alec snorts. “No. He really has. And it feels really nice. I don’t think my body’s ever felt more… relaxed before.” He shrugs, suddenly aware of how light his shoulders now feel after weeks of massaging.

“Magnus is really turning you into a softie, huh?” There’s no malice in Jace’s voice, just relief in knowing that his parabatai is getting the rest and love he deserves. “No one’s gonna believe me when I say you get massages and take baths on the regular.

“Shut up.” Alec smiles for a bit, his mind thinking about the next time he’ll see Magnus today. After a long drink of water, he adds, “He _does_ give it to me good, though.”

Jace groans, flipping him off before he storms out.

“Okay, I’m leaving now! _Definitely_ didn’t need to hear that!”

* * *

Magnus buries his face into Alec’s bare chest, his mind in a post-coital haze as they both come down from a very intense time in bed just a couple of minutes ago. His boyfriend’s arms are engulfed around him, fingers trailing lightly up and down his back. He’s about to drift off to sleep when he feels Alec stirring underneath him.

“Magnus?”

“Yes?”

“Can I massage you?”

“Hmm?” Magnus lifts his head, resting his chin on his breast as he runs his fingers through dark curls.

“You’ve been helping me out with my back for the past few weeks and I wanna return the favor.”

He freezes, fingers stilling as he nibbles on his bottom lip.

“You don’t have to,” Alec replies. “If you don’t want to.”

“I don’t mind,” Magnus replies. “I just, um. I never really got a massage before.”

“Wait, what? You freak out at me never having a massage, but you haven’t?”

He shrugs, burying his face underneath Alec’s chest. “I never got a full massage. I, uh.” He waves his hands around, struggling to find the words.

“What is it?” Alec’s voice is curious and bashful, and Magnus couldn’t resist a voice like that.

“You know how I’m… ticklish?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s because my skin is, uh, a little sensitive. I can barely get through a massage because I just react so intensely if someone starts digging into my skin and we’re not having sex.”

“Oh.” There’s a couple of beats of silence as Alec ponders what he just heard. Still, a smile graces his face “Can I still try?”

Magnus lifts his head to frown at his boyfriend. “I’m suspicious.”

“C’mon,” Alec grabs Magnus body, hoisting them both so that they’re sitting upright. Magnus, groans in response, slumping against the other body and hoping his weight is enough to stop his boyfriend from going through with this plan. “I’ve always wondered what it was like to massage someone and I still wanna return the favor for all the massages you gave me.”

“Why don’t you pay me back in Korean BBQ?” Magnus groans. He still allows himself to let Alec lay himself face down onto the bed.

“Don’t mind me,” Alec replies, straddling his hips and sitting down on his butt. “I’m not as experienced as you.”

“That’s what you said after you gave me the best orgasm of my life.” Magnus sighs, enjoying the light graze of his fingers throughout his back. He’s about to drift off, when he suddenly feels a growing pressure against one of the muscles on his upper back.

The reaction is almost visceral. Magnus squirms underneath Alec’s grip, hands gripping the sheets as his body goes into overdrive.

“ _Hhhhhhuuuuuuuu_ fucking… _Jesus,_ Alec! Hooooooh boy.” The more he puts pressure, the more Magnus makes incredibly uncharacteristic wheezes, growing louder by the second. He isn’t sure exactly what he’s feeling, but it feels uncomfortable, overwhelming, and slightly painful. Is this what massages are supposed to feel?

Alec relaxes his grip, the light touch adding another level of a ticklish sensation, causing Magnus to twitch underneath him. He flails his arms around, almost throwing Alec on the other side of the bed.

"That was too fucking much, holy shit."

“By the Angel, Magnus,” Alec replies. He should feel more concerned, but he can’t help but laugh in amusement. “That wasn’t even five minutes. Hell, _three_ minutes.”

“I told you,” Magnus says in a whine curling into himself into a fetal position, burying himself underneath the covers. “I don’t do massages for a reason.” He then frowns, peeking his head out of the blankets towards Alec. “You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”

“Maybe.” He laughs, removing the covers and relaxing Magnus’s grip so he can cuddle into him. “I didn’t know you were that sensitive. Or capable of making those noises.”

“If you tell anyone, I’m gonna deny it and no one will believe you. How about we just leave the massaging for you, babe? You can pay me back in food.”

“Sounds like a solid plan. All the more massages for me.”

Magnus thinks he’s finally off the hook, sinking into Alec’s arms. He’s about to drift off to sleep when he feels wandering fingers stilling on his sides. It takes him approximately six seconds before he realizes what exactly is happening.

“I do like hearing you like that, though.” And suddenly, his fingers start tickling the most sensitive parts of Magnus’s body.

“Alec!” he exclaims, his voice followed by high pitched screams as he tries to fight off wandering hands, wrestling around the bed and tangling themselves in the covers. The more his body reacts, the more Magnus is willing to go for the last resort. He uses his strength to straddle and grind against Alec, pinning his wrists above his head, kissing the living daylights out of him and having their wicked way with each other.

Maybe Alec _will_ try to massage Magnus more in the future.

**Author's Note:**

> i also wanna write magnus taking alec to korean bbq.... perhaps that is an idea for another fluffy fanfic in the future????
> 
> hmu @ mangolesbian !


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